The present invention relates generally to zinc-air batteries, and in particular, to a method of recovering and restoring the voltage in a collapsed zinc-air battery.
Small electronic instruments or devices, such as pagers or combination pager/watches utilize zinc-air batteries for power. In one preferred method, the zinc-air cell is placed in a sealed battery compartment. Oxygen used by the zinc-air cell to produce power is provided through a tiny air hole in the battery chamber. An example of this arrangement can be seen in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/834,133, entitled "Container for Electrical Device Utilizing a Metal Air Cell", and assigned to the present assignee, which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
Undesirably, while controlling the relative humidity in the battery compartment, the dimensions of the air hole also limit the flow of oxygen to the zinc-air cell and therefore may limit the average continuous current (I.sub.avg) that the battery can source. That is, if the device draws more current than I.sub.avg over an extended period of time, the battery voltage will collapse. This can result in memory loss within the device and/or cause a system reset. Additionally, the mere incorporation of a back-up battery may not adequately overcome the aforementioned deficiencies, if the device has insufficient recovery procedures.
Accordingly, an improved method of battery detection and battery recovery that overcomes the aforementioned deficiencies and achieves the below mentioned objectives is desired.